It is currently very difficult to accurately determine the length of control line required when installing and/or operating equipment at a given location within a wellbore, particularly when the control line is being retrofitted in existing tubing, for example within an existing completion. To date, this operation has tended to rely on a theoretical calculation of the length of control line necessary and has resulted in a long and laborious system of calculation and cross-checking in order to arrive at a best guess result. Other techniques may involve the use of depth counters which are also often unreliable.
It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide a control line space out tool and a method of determining a length of control line required to extend between particular locations within a wellbore, which helps to alleviate the afore-mentioned problems.